''Orthopristis chrysoptera'', the pigfish, hogfish, piggy perch, redmouth grunt or sailor's choice, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grunt belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Haemulidae Haemulidae is a family of fishes in the order Perciformes known commonly as grunts. It is made up of the two subfamilies Haemulinae (grunters) and Plectorhynchinae (sweetlips), which in turn contain about 133 species in 19 genera. These fish ar ...

. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean. This name derives from the grunting or chattering noise these fish make by rubbing their

pharyngeal teeth Pharyngeal teeth are teeth in the pharyngeal arch of the throat of cyprinids, suckers, and a number of other fish species otherwise lacking teeth.dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

contains 12–13 spines and a similar number of soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 12–13 soft rays, the second spine is slightly thicker and longer than the third. The entire body is clothed in scales apart from the tip of the snout, lips and chin. The overall colour of the body is pale bluish-grey on the back and silvery below. Every scale on the body has a blue centre and a bronze spot on the margin, creating diagonal orange-brown stripes running up an along the flanks and back. The stripes below the lateral line are horizontal. There are bronze spots on the head and the fines are a yellowish- bronze with dusky margins. This species attains a maximum total length of , although is more typical, and the maximum recorded weight is .

Distribution

''Orthopristis chrysoptera'' is found in the western Atlantic Ocean. Its range extends from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

in the north south along the Atlantic coast of the United States around

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

, including the Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba. It is also found in

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

. It has been recorded off Siracusa in Sicily in 2020, probably afterbeing transported by ship.

Habitat and biology

''Orthopristis chrysoptera'' is found at depths between , where it can be found in estuaries and bays, sometimes entering canal although waters of very low salinity are avoided. Within these shallow waters they show a catholic habitat choice being found over soft substrates Seychelles as sand or silt, hard substrates including jetties, reefs and oil rigs, as well as shell banks. They may be found both in coastal waters and over the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

. The main

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...

season is in the Spring and is extended, commencing in the late winter. It may occur offshore in open waters or in more sheltered situations inshore. The larger fish are the earliest spawners and all fish lose condition over the breeding season. Spawning takes place at dusk. The eggs and larvae are pelagic, eggs hatch after 48hours and the larvae become juveniles at in length. They have a longevity of 4 years but most only attain 3 years of age. Pigfish are predatory fish, emerging from shelters to feed at night. Their main prey is benthic invertebrates and prey size increases with the size of the fish. The younger fish feed mainly on planktonic crustaceans while the larger fish feed on polychaetes, larger crustaceans, molluscs and smaller fishes. They have been recorded eating insect larvae in brackish waters. Pigfish are migratory and move offshore to avoid cold temperatures but when they return inshore in Spring they are in poor conditions suggesting that the offshore food supply is of low quality. They also undertake shorter distance. Daily migrations to and from feeding areas and shelters. The pigfish likely gets its common name from the chattering noises they create when they are captured. The pigfish creates this grunting noise by rubbing their pharyngeal teeth together, as do the other grunts. When feeding, pigfish use their throat teeth to grind up shellfish and small bits of other food.

Systematics

''Orthopristis chrysoptera'' was first formally described as ''Perca chrysoptera'' in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus with the type locality given as Carolina. It is now thought this means the Bahamas or

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. When Charles Frédéric Gerard described ''Orthopristis duplex'' in 1858 he placed it in a new

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

. This taxon was later shown to be a junior synonym of Linnaeus's ''P. chrysoptera'', so this species is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the genus

Orthopristis ''Orthopristis'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, grunts belonging to family Haemulidae. They are found in the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Americas. Species The currently recognized species in this genus are: * '' Orthopristis canth ...

. The specific name ''chrysoptera'' means "golden-finned." Linnaeus did not explain this, but it may refer to the row of bronze spots on the dorsal fin or the yellowish paired fins.

Utilisation

''Orthopristis chrysoptera'' is caught using hook and line, traps and seines. The catch is not recorded separately for this species. The flesh is normally sold fresh. It is often caught to be used as bait in angling and commercial fisheries for other, larger fish such as the

spotted sea trout ''Cynoscion nebulosus'', the spotted seatrout, also known as speckled trout, is a common estuarine fish found in the southern United States along coasts of Gulf of Mexico and the coastal Atlantic Ocean from Maryland to Florida. While most of thes ...

(''Cynoscion nebulosus'').

References

# Ohs, C.L., DiMaggio, M.A., Grabe, S.W. “Species Profile: Pigfish Orthopristis chrysoptera. Southern Regional Aquaculture Center, United States Department of Agriculture.

External links

Texas parks and wildlife – Pigfish (Orthopristis chrysoptera)Fishbase – Orthopristis chrysopteraFlorida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission – Pigfish
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2383492 chrysoptera Fish described in 1766 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus